The collective personas of Discovery Channel and its president Trina McQueen are so completely intertwined, it’s almost hard to remember the breadth of experience that led to her being named Woman of the Year by Canadian Women in Communications last month.

She was, of course, on the cbc payroll for 25 years, starting as an on-air reporter in 1967 and rising to vice-president of television news, current affairs and Newsworld from 1988 to 1992. In that time, she oversaw the launch and development of Newsworld, introduced the Witness documentary series, and directed cbc’s coverage of Meech Lake and the Gulf War.

Today, the cbc is merely a soft spot as she watches it cope with its new reality. She has become, in the years during and since, one of the most respected and powerful television executives in the Canadian broadcasting industry, the culmination of which was her appointment to head of Discovery Channel in 1994.

Since its launch, Discovery has been, and remains, the number-one specialty channel amongst the 1994 rookies. It regularly captures the highest percentage of the six of the primetime adult audience, 27% of their combined ad revenue to the tune of $27 million last year, and manages to deliver a quality of programming reflected best by its audience share and 11 Gemini nominations this year, the most for any non-news specialty channel.

In this issue of Playback, McQueen discusses preparing to stay number one in the midst of September’s expanding specialty universe, the evolution of the Canadian production industry, NetStar Communication’s loss of both its specialty channel bids in the last round of licences, and its latest specialty proposition.

In the big picture, Discovery Channel Canada is a relatively small piece of the international broadcasting and production monstrosity that is Discovery Communications, revenue $661.8 million last year. Owner and operator of The Learning Channel and Animal Planet, Discovery is the corporation’s flagship service, the fourth largest cable net in the u.s. with 70.8 million households. It is translated into 11 languages in 20 different territories in Europe alone and this year plans to expand further into Latin America and Eastern Europe, as well as seal a massive coproduction deal with the bbc.

Discovery Canada’s affiliation with the parent company (owned 48% by tci) is an anomaly amongst the affiliates. Discovery Communications owns only 20% of the Canadian service versus its standard controlling interest. In exchange for a proportionate share of the profits and a guaranteed program supply agreement of $2 million per year, the Canadian service has a seat on the board, access to its program offerings and use of the brand name for its broadcasting service, voted the number-one media brand by u.s.-based Total Research this month.

The agreement limits Discovery Canada’s merchandising capacity (a big moneymaker in the u.s., bringing in $104.5 million last year), but it’s something McQueen says wouldn’t likely be a growth imperative for the service in Canada even if using the trademark were an option.

What’s more important is that the status quo leaves the Canadian contingent with 100% control of its program schedule, access to programming, and a ready international window for Canadian production. ‘It’s the best of both worlds,’ says McQueen.

Health network

NetStar, the broadcast consortium that replaced Labatt Communications, is planning to grow the company with more specialty services either by acquisition or with new licences. In process to date is a pitch for a health network, which is making its way through the crtc along with a dozen others via the Eligible Services Lists expansion proceedings. It is NetStar’s first kick at the can since its applications for The History Channel and TSN Plus were denied by the commission last September.

The loss of an extended tsn, the richest of all the specialties at $129.2 million in revenue last year, was perhaps less of a surprise than The History Channel, which had A&E Television onside for 20% and was prepared to make a $6.8 million investment in Canadian film. It lost to the Alliance bid because it promised more Canadian content, says McQueen, a mindset she generally takes issue with.

The commitment made to Canadian production should be in dollars and not in the misguided belief that 80% Cancon somehow equals quality programming on the screen, says McQueen. ‘It doesn’t.’

On the idea that the application may have been sidelined because, through its program supply arrangement with The History Channel u.s., it crossed that hazy threshold of u.s. involvement the crtc is not prepared to cross, McQueen will only say that what NetStar saw as a strength, the crtc may have seen as a deterrent, and acknowledges it was a gamble. ‘Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t, but you win and you lose by the rules.’

The rules per se are an interesting subject of late, particularly in the specialty programming landscape where cbc’s satire slate is disallowed on Newsworld and all in sundry are chasing programming and brand identity to be strongly positioned by the time teletoon, then, The Comedy Network and N1 hit the airwaves.

Discovery, like Canadian broadcasters across the board, is in the midst of recalibrating programming and promotions budgets. The turf war for audience will be waged on both programming and, increasingly, promotion when the competition for audience will be based on who is best able to break through the din. Discovery’s promo budget is confidential, but McQueen will say the increase in the upcoming year is ‘substantial.’

Part of the strategy in play will consist of program stunts, a derivative of the Discovery Communications International group think this year. Next month, the primetime effort will be to simplify and quantify its offerings in the hectic pre-May sweeps rush with four themed weeks: animal, adventure, science and technology, and people and civilizations, each tagged by catch phrases Go Wild, Get Lost, Get Smart and Go Far Out, respectively.

But while the programming and promotions angles are a necessary focus, McQueen says the specialties need to spend some energy finding new ways to appeal to advertisers, a whole block of which she believes haven’t been tapped yet. Business-to-business services, for example, could be a new addition. ‘I’m not saying I have the answers. I’m saying there’s still room to grow our collective share of the pie. We’re not mature services yet.’

The benchmark for maturity is 80%-plus penetration of Canadian households, says McQueen. The benchmark for whether the Canadian specialty channel business, numbering more than 30 services come 1999, has blown its brains out with more services available than the subscriber base or the advertising industry can support and supply is ‘when channels start to fail,’ she says. ‘It’s not up to the crtc to dictate the quantity anymore.’

DTH talks

A day in the life this month for McQueen consists of conversations. Conversations with the classification committee on the Action Group on Violence in Television, which she chairs. Conversations with Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications as contracts for the specialty services, which signed three-year deals for service supply, come up for renewal. Conversations with the direct-to-home satellite service suppliers, one of the alternative distribution systems on the horizon McQueen is particularly engaged by.

Discovery has yet to sign deals with any of the dth players in process, although sister station tsn has program package agreements in place. McQueen doesn’t expect fees to be a sticking point, referring to the distribution regulations released this month, which stipulate alternative systems must offer ‘comparable fees,’ ‘which to my mind means neither a lot higher nor a lot lower.’

Although the penetration factor for dth is still a question mark, McQueen maintains that any system which offers a new subscription opportunity for the specialties is a welcome addition to the system. ‘Yes, the revenue may be small for a certain period of time. But small is still more.’

In the industry, the public ‘conversations’ she’s best known for revolve around content. While the majority have been preoccupied with hardware over the last two years, she’s advocated, admonished and perpetuated dialogue about the software side of the business.

The discussion has moved forward in two years, says McQueen, pointing out that there are 15 to 20 small to mid-sized production companies in Canada prepared to make the next step, and able to act as a real business and housing a real financing capacity.

‘When you have companies putting a business together every time they go into production, so much of the money doesn’t go on the screen. The Cable Production Fund has given these companies the strength to build their businesses and I think we’re seeing a grounding for a larger production base in this country than we would have thought possible five years ago.’

In the production community, McQueen has a reputation as a tough negotiator but is one of those rare broadcast executives who genuinely believes in Canadian production. ‘You can count them on one hand, and she’s one of them,’ says a producer doing business with Discovery.

As for the seeming tug-o-war for specialty channel membership shaping up between Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Specialty and Premium Television Association, which she vice-chairs, McQueen makes the point that 80% of the specialty service revenue is represented through the sptv, although some specialties have joined both.

The sptv represents the interests of both the pay-per-view services and the specialties, a setup seemingly somewhat problematic since the newest licensees would be pleased to see a chunk of the ppv channels dumped to clear some space on the analog system.

McQueen says that the partnerships will act together when they share a cause, separately when issues diverge. ‘Global and wic are often pitted against each other, but they both belong to the cab.’

The cab announced late this month it has retained Glenn Suart, a senior consultant at Nordicity Group, as senior advisor, specialty television for the introduction period of its new specialty channel arm. A full-time executive will eventually be selected.

Looking ahead, the long-term plan for Discovery is to increase the Canadian production volume, both in house and with independent productions.

In May, two new Canadian series will debut; a 14-part series, The Professionals, produced by Great North Production, and Spirit of the Yukon, a six-part series produced by Filmwest Associates in Kelowna, b.c.